Wednesday, December 28, 2016

Called to Be More

Being a "follower" of Jesus isn't enoughSunday, we begin another new year. It is the season of making resolutions, where
people promise themselves that they’ll do something different than what they’ve
usually done. Resolutions are built on
hope. We hope that we’ll do better than we usually do, but in
reality, by the end of January most resolutions are already dead and
buried.

People who are regulars at the gym know that the
parking lots will be jammed in January but by February things are back to
normal. Running seems to be even
worse. There is a core group of
dedicated walkers in our neighborhood but not a lot of runners. Since I was often out running at the same
time of day I knew which people were regulars.
There were a handful of folks who were always out, rain, shine, snow, ice,
or brutal heat. It didn’t matter, they
were there. But in the spring, there was
a surge of folks just enjoying the nice weather, and then a similar jump in the
fall, but once it was too hot, or too cold, these folks all disappeared.

But blogger Michael Hyatt has noted that there is
big difference between a resolution and a goal.
While a resolution is built on hope, something that we hope to do
better, a goal is built on an intended destination, a target that we intend to
reach. And so, when things get difficult,
some vague desire to “do better” just isn’t enough to carry us through. But a sincere goal of running a race, losing five
pounds in time for beach weather, or other reasonable
and attainable targets are enough of an emotional and psychological motivation
to push us a little harder.

But how does any of this make a difference in our
spiritual lives?

It makes a difference in the language that we use
and in the language that Jesus intended for us to use. You see, we have gotten into the habit of
calling ourselves followers
of Jesus and, while that’s not wrong, it doesn’t go far enough. Jesus called Peter, James, John, and all of
us, to follow him, but he also called us to become more than that.

Jesus called people to follow him so that they could
become his disciples.

While some dictionaries use these two words as
synonyms, scripturally, as well as in practice, they are quite different. A follower is a person who likes what the
leader does and follows them from place to place to watch them and see what
happens next. But a disciple is a
learner who follows so that they can become more like the person that they re
following. A disciple’s goal is to
learn so much from the teacher that they begin to live and act
like the teacher in everything they do.
The ultimate goal is for the learner to become so much like the teacher,
that they themselves are sent out to teach and to make more disciples.

Here’s an example: for years the rock band, The Grateful
Dead, had a loyal following of people called “dead heads” who knew everything
the band played and who followed them from place to place all over the
country. But even though they were
dedicated, and had all the songs committed to memory, they were still just
followers. In contrast, many of you have
heard Buddy Rich, the drummer who played for Frank Sinatra and who led his own
band. Buddy Rich was one of the most
talented drummers in history. I am
certain that he had a great many followers, but he also had a small handful of
disciples. As busy as he was, Buddy Rich
taught drum lessons, but as skilled as he was, he only taught the best of the
best. Buddy Rich taught just a few people
who were both highly skilled and professionally driven to become the best
drummers in the world. Although most of
them aren’t household names, nearly every one of them played in bands that you’ve
heard of or led bands of their own. Likewise,
there’s a big difference between being a fan of a famous sports team, and
working hard to become good enough to try out and play for that team.

That’s the difference between following and becoming
a disciple.

We often call ourselves followers, but we can’t stop
there.

We are called to something bigger, something more
demanding, and much more important.

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